Itochu says to sell stake in Ting Hsin, buys TFCC share

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s Itochu Corp (8001.T) said on Thursday it will sell its 17.8 percent stake in Ting Hsin International to the Chinese food processor for $440 million, and buy a 37.2 percent stake in Taipei Financial Center Corp (TFCC) from Ting Hsin for $665 million.

The sale of its entire stake in Ting Hsin, one of the largest food manufacturers and distributors in China and Taiwan, is aimed at Itochu’s partnership with China’s state-owned financial group CITIC (0267.HK), an Itochu spokesman said.

The purchase of a stake in TFCC, which manages the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan’s capital, is to gain an asset which generates stable income and fits with Itochu’s expertise in real estate, he added.

In 2009, Itochu bought a 20 percent stake in Ting Hsin for about $700 million and sold a 2.2 percent stake in 2015 for an undisclosed sum.

The Japanese trading house invested in about $5 billion to take a 10 percent stake in CITIC, part of China’s oldest and biggest financial conglomerate, in 2015.

Itochu aims to complete the deals with Ting Hsin by the end of March, the spokesman said.